You should always listen to your wife
by Julie Winchester
Summary: OS. Gwen has something important to tell her husband, but Arthur is too busy to listen to her... Post S4, no spoiler S5. Arwen, no slash. Rated T because of a few allusions, but nothing serious.


**Disclaimer: If _Merlin_ belonged to me, Arthur would learn from past mistakes (I'm referring to the Druid thing in 5.01, although what he did last week redeemed him a bit in my eyes) and he would also know about Merlin's magic. In short, if the show belonged to me, it would happen a lot more like in Alaia Skyhawk's _A Question of..._ series. **

**Summary: Gwen has something important to tell her husband, but Arthur is too busy to listen to her... Post S4, no spoiler S5.**

Gwen was anxiously standing behind Gaius's door, trying to find the courage to knock and enter. She'd waited until she was sure Merlin was with her husband before she came here; she didn't want to run into him and explain her presence. Actually she didn't even want him to know she'd come here. So she had waited, until the noises coming from Arthur's chambers had told her that his servant had woken him up. At least this time she wasn't with him when Merlin entered, she thought with a smile, thinking back on how her friend had finally learned to knock before coming in.

It had happened a few months after her wedding; although usually she went back to sleep in her own quarters once they had... done what they wanted to do, this time she'd fallen asleep in his arms and had only been awoken short after dawn by her husband's amorous advances. None of them had been able to keep track of time, which had led to...

_Flash-back_

_Merlin pushed the door open, not bothering to knock as usual. A glance towards the bed told him Arthur was still sleeping – or so he thought, so he put the breakfast tray on the table and claimed:_

"_It's past dawn, Sire!"_

_Too focused on each other to hear anything, the couple had kept doing what they were doing._

_When all he got was what he thought to be a groan of sleepiness, Merlin grabbed the sheets and pulled them towards himself... before letting out a cry of surprise at the sight before him, and turning away, red with embarrassment._

"_I'm sorry, I... did not know you were here, Gwen. I'll just... leave now, I think."_

_Before any of them had been able to utter a word, he was out the door, trying to clear his mind of the awkward scene he'd just walked upon._

_End of flashback_

Gwen and Merlin hadn't been able to look at each other for a month after that; and Merlin never came in the King's chambers again without knocking first.

Of course, now they were able to laugh about it, even though at the moment the three of them had been utterly embarrassed. The memory reminded Gwen of what she had come here for, and after taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

"Yes," she heard Gaius say.

Smiling, Gwen opened the door and came inside.

"Hello, Gaius."

The old physician looked at her.

"Your Majesty! I didn't know it was you."

"Please, I already told you, none of that 'Your Majesty' business when we're alone," Gwen scolded gently. "Merlin still calls me by my name, why can't you?"

"Merlin never respected the etiquette," Gaius grumbled. "May I help you with something?"

"Yes, actually," the young Queen answered, her nervousness coming back.

Two hours later, Guinevere was running out of the physician's chambers, hoping to find her husband in his quarters – she knew he had some reports from the borders to read today, so hopefully he would be doing that inside and she could tell him what she had learned.

Halfway to Arthur's apartments, she heard some distant, familiar noise. The Queen changed direction; she had a feeling she would not find the King in his quarters... She headed towards the training field, hoping at least he would be training alone, and not with all the Knights. She loved all of them, she really did, but she needed to discuss something with her husband. Alone.

Unfortunately, when she reached the training field, everyone was here. Arthur was sparring against Gwaine, and Percival was facing both Elyan and Leon. Merlin was on the side, looking bored as usual. Guinevere joined him with a knowing smile.

"Punished again, Merlin?"

"Oh, no. If I was punished, it would be me on the training field," he replied. "Last time I came in his apartments without knocking, he used me as a training dummy for two months."

The warlock then looked at her, frowning slightly. There was... _something_ about Gwen today, she didn't look like her usual self. Yet he couldn't have said what it was to save his life.

She seemed to notice he was staring, for she turned her head towards him and asked, "What is it?"

"I don't know... there's something... something different about you. I can't quite put my finger on it."

Gwen laughed, "You have too much imagination Merlin. There's nothing different about me."

She stood there for a while, hoping after the training session she could have a word with her husband; unfortunately, it became clear she had hoped in vain when Merlin told her:

"If he spends too much longer on the field, he won't have time to take a bath, and he'll be all sweaty during the council."

"Oh, he has a council meeting again?" Gwen asked, disappointed.

"Yes, and after that you both have to settle a dispute between two farmers, Guethenoc and Roparzh. I think it's about a cow or something."

Now _that_ was crucial, Gwen thought ironically. Why couldn't the two men settle this between themselves was beyond her. She understood that farmers could sometimes need help from their sovereigns, but a King and Queen had more important things to do than decide who a cow belonged to...

That evening, she was sitting before her mirror while her servant brushed her hair; the maid, however, seemed to notice something was amiss with her mistress, for she asked, "Is something wrong, My Lady?"

Gwen gave her a reassuring smile.

"Nothing to do with you. I'm just frustrated with my husband, that's all."

"Did the King do something?" the girl asked kindly.

Gwen hesitated on whether or not she should tell her; she remembered, however, the bond she used to share with Morgana. She missed having a girl-friend to confide into and share laughter with. She had Merlin, of course, but that wasn't the same – he was a man.

Smiling to the girl, she said, "I had some important news for him, that I wanted to tell him tonight; but I didn't have time to say anything, because he told me he was going on a hunting trip for the next few days, and he would be leaving at dawn. Which means I have to wait until he comes back to tell him..."

Alysane gave her a sympathetic smile, before asking, "Are you expecting, My Lady?"

Gwen looked up sharply at her maid's reflection in the mirror.

"What makes you say that?"

The young woman shrugged, "I've got eyes to see, My Lady. You haven't bled for two months, you have nauseas and carvings... I remember my mother was the same when she was pregnant with my brother."

The Queen nodded; she'd have preferred for Arthur to be the first to know, but it made sense that Alysane, being the one to wash her sheets and bring her food, would have figured it out herself.

"Yes," she said, "I'm expecting. Which is why I'm annoyed at having to wait until my husband is available to listen."

"With all due respect, My Lady, if you wait until he listens then you might very well be in labour before that. My father is a stonemason, so he was always very busy; when my mother expected my brother, she tried to tell him for weeks, but he was so tired when he came home he didn't actually listen. I remember once, she told him blatantly during supper, and he just answered, 'That's a very good idea, darling'."

Gwen laughed along with her maid at that, and asked with curiosity, "So what did she do?"

"Well, by the time she was fed up with him not listening, she was starting to show; so she went to his workshop, told his apprentice to go wait outside because she had something to say to her husband. Then she undid her dress and stood naked, arms crossed, until he noticed her belly."

"I imagine the faces of Arthur's advisors if I were to do that in the middle of one of his councils," Gwen chuckled.

Giggling as well, Alysane replied, "Well you could start from this idea and make it something of your own. What's the best way to tell him during his council?"

Gwen's expression went from amused to thoughtful, before a wicked grin spread on her face. Arthur _had_ planned a council once he came back from his hunting trip...

"Tell me, Alysane. Do you ever go in the room where they keep the papers for the next council?" Gwen asked.

"No, My Lady, but I know the boy who's charged to do the dusting in there," the maid replied, slightly blushing, "and he never denies me anything."

With a teasing smile, Gwen asked, "And why is that?"

Blushing even more, Alysane stammered, "Well he, he's sort of courting me, My Lady."

Seeing her maid was uncomfortable with the topic, the Queen let it go and, taking a paper and ink, said instead, "Then I think I have a mission for you."

Arthur came back from his hunting trip in a very good mood, having killed a deer and a dozen rabbits. The first thing he did was to go to his wife, who greeted him with a smile and a kiss.

"How was your hunt, dear?" she asked kindly.

"Perfect. Exactly what I needed, a few days away from the castle. I missed you, though," he added with a loving smile. Anything happened when I was away?"

"No," she replied, "nothing important, otherwise I would have sent for someone to find you."

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking concerned. "You look tired."

"I'm fine," she replied honestly. "I just had trouble falling asleep last night, knowing you were coming back today."

He seemed to take her word and nodded absent-mindedly.

"I have a council meeting I need to attend, but as soon as it's over, I'm coming here to show you exactly how much I missed you," he said with a promising smile.

"I'll be right here waiting, in that case," she said with the laugh he so much loved to hear. He really _had_ missed her during this hunting trip. After a quick peck on the lips, he went to change and attend his council meeting, hoping it would pass quickly.

Gwen watched him go, feeling almost guilty for what she'd prepared for him. It vanished instantly, though, when she remembered how annoyed she'd been at not being able to tell him about her pregnancy the other day.

Arthur walked into the council room, papers in his hands and Merlin in his trail, as usual. The advisers, who were already here, stood to greet him as he reached his usual seat. Setting the papers down on the Round Table, he waved absent-mindedly.

"Sit down, please." As everyone sat, except for Merlin, who was standing behind the King's chair, Arthur took the paper on top of the pile.

"The first thing we need to discuss today is..." he stopped instantly as he read the note, that had nothing to do with the council.

He stood there in silence, reading it over and over again, unable to form any coherent word – or thought, for that matter. His advisors started to glance at each other, whispering and wondering what was happening to the King. After a few minutes, Geoffrey de Monmouth spoke up and asked, "Is everything alright, Sire?"

Without a word, Arthur dropped the paper and darted out of the room, leaving his advisers even more puzzled. Raising an eyebrow in a way that would have made Gaius proud, Merlin then picked up the paper and scanned it over, before a grin started to spread on his face. Of course; _that_ was why she'd seemed different to him the other day, beside the training field. That was when she must have learned about the pregnancy.

Looking up at the men around the Table, he said simply, "It seems the Queen will soon present her husband with an heir."

**This was planned to be a simple OS, but I have a few ideas for a sequel, so you decide. Should I write it or not? Virtual cookie to those who recognize where I took the name of Gwen's maid.**

**Thanks to Alaia Skyhawk for beta-ing this.**

**For those interested, there is a French version of this available on my profile, under the title "Il faut toujours écouter sa femme".**

**You want easy reviews? Review this story, I'll go read and review one of yours – you can even chose which one. If you don't have an account, or if you don't write stories, leave me a prompt and I'll write an OS about it. I can't guarantee the delay, though; I'm preparing for exams at the end of the month.**


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